{"product_id":"the-amazons-lives-and-legends-of-warrior-women-across-the-ancient-world-9780691170275","title":"The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe real history of the Amazons in war and love\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmazons--fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world--were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons--Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDriven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdrienne Mayo\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003er \u003c\/b\u003eis a research scholar in classics and history of science at Stanford University, and the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy\u003c\/i\u003e (Princeton), which was a finalist for the National Book Award.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50614332817682,"sku":"9780691170275","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_105f4bc1-60ab-40ff-8353-3bda9efc497e.jpg?v=1732439315","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-amazons-lives-and-legends-of-warrior-women-across-the-ancient-world-9780691170275","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}